The statement passed by Russia’s Upper House on Wednesday also
says the civil unrest in the Ukrainian capital was an organized
campaign aimed at displacing lawfully elected officials. The
Russian senators say the current Ukrainian crisis “will have
grave consequences for the country’s people, statehood and
territorial integrity.”

The Upper House MPs also expressed concern about the behavior of
a number of foreign politicians who had allowed themselves to
interfere with the affairs of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.
They called such interference a premeditated provocation that
further destabilized the situation.

The Federation Council called upon all representatives of
Ukrainian society to search for solutions through constructive
dialogue and without ultimatums. The Russian parliamentarians
expressed the hope that the Ukrainian authorities and people
would find ways to restore order in the country.

The Upper House’s statement is very similar to one
approved by the Lower House about a week ago. The State Duma
also called upon foreign politicians to stop instigating violence
by voicing approval of the rioters, and said that Russia had
extended financial aid to neighboring Ukraine to help it overcome
an economic and political crisis.

At the Tuesday press conference held after Russia-EU talks
President Vladimir Putin assured that
Russia would not alter its plans to help Ukraine if those in
power in the country changed, but said that this was possible if
Ukraine also honors all conditions of the agreements. The loan
and the gradual reduction of gas price were to “support the
people of Ukraine, not the government”, Putin said. “It’s the
ordinary people who always suffer,” he added.

In mid-December 2013 Putin secured a deal with Ukrainian
President Viktor Yanukovich under which Russia is buying $15bn of
Ukrainian debt in 2-year bonds and also giving Ukraine a $3.5
billion discount on natural gas purchases on behalf of
state-owned Gazprom. Ukrainians will pay $268.5 per thousand
cubic meters of natural gas instead of $400, a nearly 33 percent
discount.

On Wednesday the President raised the question again at a
government conference and told officials that all contracts with
Ukraine must be completely fulfilled. However, President Putin
and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia would wait
for Ukraine to form a new government before starting to execute
its obligations.